A lot of the article wants to point the blame at Windows 8. This is a contributing factor, but look at it that way, Windows ME and Vista both have/had some very serious negative feedback, did PC sales drop that much then because of word of mouth? However, many other factors play into this, mobile phones are on the rise, Dell/HP shakeup, poor PC designs, and the biggest thing of all, I think its partly due to less people needing to upgrade their current computer. PCs these days are not upgraded to new ones as often because the hardware specs are good enough now. This all can't be about Windows 8, look at the whole picture.

Me and Vista were not in the situation where the market is at this time. Apple is a major influence when we look at their offerings and their sales. They've sold more Macs than in any other quarter in the worst economic climate. Me and Vista were in periods before the economic collapse where people were consumers at their peak in technology adoption.

Everyone was buying computers and getting involved. As stated earlier, phones act in place of the PC for basic function on the web. Windows 8 was not well recieved and has a stigma that is Metro. Compared to 8, Vista never forced users to "adapt" to functionality that wasn't necessary.

Microsoft acted out of impulse because of the success of Apple's iPad and they thought they could wrap around an interface for all devices by hitting multiple targets with one stone.

Is Windows 8 entirely to blame for the downturn? No, but it's a major factor. Now Microsoft needs to focus on Windows Blue and Windows 9, making sure to respond to criticism from users and critics.

Yes! People don't buy new PCs because they don't have one all the time, nor because the one they had didn't perform well. They bought new ones because they perceived newer was cooler and could do new stuff. There's nothing new Windows 8 presented other than a touch-centric UI with limited lasting appeal, and limited usage scenarios.

It's really all about the software. The MS Core apps shipped with Windows 8 RTM were amateurish at best. Makes Linux apps look high quality. Disastrous. And slick high-end Modern UI Zune like client that synced Surface RT Tablets and Phones would have resonated with consumers. Instead, nothing. Everything is disconnected with nothing great to install or run on it. There's no "Runs better on ..." or "Designed for ..." Windows 8 applications.

The WP8 phones don't have the apps the others do, do not support the peripherals the others do. The Surface RT is the same plus just doesn't perform as reliably as the others do. Sometimes on the tablets you can't update all your app, you have to try, retry. That's just unacceptable for a tablet.

Yeah, there's lots of reasons including the economy but to say that the Windows 8 fiasco is not a major cause is total denial.

A lot of the article wants to point the blame at Windows 8. This is a contributing factor, but look at it that way, Windows ME and Vista both have/had some very serious negative feedback, did PC sales drop that much then because of word of mouth? However, many other factors play into this, mobile phones are on the rise, Dell/HP shakeup, poor PC designs, and the biggest thing of all, I think its partly due to less people needing to upgrade their current computer. PCs these days are not upgraded to new ones as often because the hardware specs are good enough now. This all can't be about Windows 8, look at the whole picture.

All of those things have some impact. I will believe thy have more impact that the simple fact Windows 8 has no sex appeal when:

MS thought they could force everyone to do things their way, because that works best for them, and it's just not working. People may in fact choose a tablet (and not a Windows tablet) in lieu of what MS is putting forth with their hybrid UI. People don't want to, "start over" nor "wait" for features and apps. There are alternatives if they can settle for a Tablet.

Just curious, how are Mac sales doing right now? Since iPad is still doing relatively well ...

Personally, I'd start by publicly announcing Windows 8 "Blue". Something they should have done from the start.

1) You have just conceded that Windows 8 is a failure and people are going to continue to not buy it and wait to see what "Blue" has to offer, and the expectations will be high and we all know it has relatively minor to moderate changes.

2) Your promo list is as sparse and Microsoft's is, basically empty. And keep this in mind, no one on Neowin is a bigger evangelist for Windows 8 than you, and your promo list is ........... That I believe, is the major problem and why Windows 8 is not helping PC sales.

the problem is not windows8 or what. mostly, people don't need PC when the tablets got enough options to do things. emails, news, internet, skype or chats, basic word processing / excel. then you don't need a pc anymore for most families. PCs need to reinvent themselves to do more. else they will be used only by people that need more, like video/audio/image editing, coders, etc.

MS thought they could force everyone to do things their way, because that works best for them, and it's just not working. People may in fact choose a tablet (and not a Windows tablet) in lieu of what MS is putting forth with their hybrid UI. People don't want to, "start over" nor "wait" for features and apps. There are alternatives if they can settle for a Tablet.

Just curious, how are Mac sales doing right now? Since iPad is still doing relatively well ...

1) You have just conceded that Windows 8 is a failure and people are going to continue to not buy it and wait to see what "Blue" has to offer, and the expectations will be high and we all know it has relatively minor to moderate changes.

2) Your promo list is as sparse and Microsoft's is, basically empty. And keep this in mind, no one on Neowin is a bigger evangelist for Windows 8 than you, and your promo list is ........... That I believe, is the major problem and why Windows 8 is not helping PC sales.

failure is relative. relative to the current climate and the relative youthfulness of Windows 8, promoting basically "we're fixing" it, is conceding failure given the expectations of such a significant (as promoted by MS) upgrade.

failure is relative. relative to the current climate and the relative youthfulness of Windows 8, promoting basically "we're fixing" it, is conceding failure given the expectations of such a significant (as promoted by MS) upgrade.

Like you said, "failure" is relative. "fixing" denotes a broken product, "improving" would be a better word. Updates aren't a bad thing, everyone else updates their products, so why is "Blue" denoting a bad thing?

Without question Windows 8 is a failure. I'd agree that PC sales have been declining due to the alternatives in the market, but the only way you can explain such a huge and deep dip is due to Windows 8. The problem is Microsoft pushed it so hard as being as being a tablet OS ("touch first") that users saw this as validation that tablets can do what PCs can do. Of course, when they then went to buy tablet they weren't remotely interested in Windows tablets. This was the big risk that I argued about many many times on here... That Microsoft would end up hastening their decline in the desktop by trying so hard to use it as a wedge into the mobile market. So far that gamble is backfiring on them and runs the risk of killing one of their cash cows prematurely.

Like you said, "failure" is relative. "fixing" denotes a broken product, "improving" would be a better word. Updates aren't a bad thing, everyone else updates their products, so why is "Blue" denoting a bad thing?

A switch to heavily promoting the fix or update to the awesome Windows 8 that is still in the midst of a pretty sizeable marketing campaign, would be a bad thing IMO, relative to the current climate.

Are you at all familiar with the Osborne effect? You probably weren't born during the Osborne's time. I was still a teen. That might also come into effect with what you are suggesting:

>>The Osborne effect is a term referring to the unintended consequences of a company pre-announcement made either unaware of the risks involved or when the timing is misjudged, which ends up having a negative impact on the sales of the current product. This is often the case when a product is announced too long before its actual availability. This has the immediate effect of customers canceling or deferring orders for the current product, knowing that it will soon be obsolete, and any unexpected delays often means the new product comes to be perceived as vaporware, damaging the company's credibility and profitability.<<

They do need to hasten the development of Blue, and address as many user complaints, wants, needs, desires as possible. But promoting it heavily at this time, I personally would not recommend that. Keep leaking what you're doing and let enthusiasts promote the update/fix or whatever you want to call it. Money that would be spent promoting Blue right now should be spent developing higher quality core apps IMO, and porting XBLA games to Windows 8 Modern UI as quickly as possible.

A switch to heavily promoting the fix or update to the awesome Windows 8 that is still in the midst of an pretty sizeable marketing campaign, would be a bad thing IMO, relative to the current climate.

Are you at all familiar with the Osborne effect? You probably weren't born during the Osborne's time. I was still a teen. That might also come into effect with what you are suggesting:

>>The Osborne effect is a term referring to the unintended consequences of a company pre-announcement made either unaware of the risks involved or when the timing is misjudged, which ends up having a negative impact on the sales of the current product. This is often the case when a product is announced too long before its actual availability. This has the immediate effect of customers canceling or deferring orders for the current product, knowing that it will soon be obsolete, and any unexpected delays often means the new product comes to be perceived as vaporware, damaging the company's credibility and profitability.<<

The do need to hasten the development of Blue, and address as many user complaints, wants, needs, desires as possible. But promoting it heavily at this time, I personally would not recommend that. Keep leaking what you're doing and let enthusiasts promote the update/fix or whatever you want to call it. Money that would be spent promoting Blue right now should be spent developing higher quality core apps IMO, and porting XBLA games to Windows 8 Modern UI as quickly as possible.

No, I do not know of the Osborne Effect. High quality Apps is what Windows 8 needs as well. Facebook is still missing, among others. However, Windows 8 does have a plethora of other high quality apps, that allow users to get work done.